


Slowly

by SallySS



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Homosexuality, Secret Relationship, Tortured Past, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 19:09:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12091524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SallySS/pseuds/SallySS
Summary: Talon has obtained a new agent that escaped Dr. Ziegler's lab. With a strange ability, and a lust for vengeance, this woman may be just what Talon needed to turn the world on it's head. However Sombra, like usual, has different plans.





	1. Introduction

“Makes you wonder just what Dr Ziegler’s true motives are.” A woman purred from the shadowed corner of the room, her french accent thick on her tongue.    
  
She was curious about the woman they had retrieved; a news report had mentioned a strange woman wreaking havoc, but Talon wasn’t interested in the event till they intercepted information that the former members of overwatch were going to move in to subdue the person in question. After a small scuffle, Reaper and Widowmaker returned to their base to examine their find.    
  
The woman sat on the bed, looking down into her scuffed hands. She was dressed in a hospital gown, a bracelet with a string of numbers and a barcode were the only pieces of identity on her. She told the two that she had escaped Dr Ziegler’s lab, that she was terminally ill and referred to see Angela who was known for having unique and unconventional cures that might be able to save her life. “At first it was pretty standard, tests and studies to get information about my sickness, but then the things she did to me… it wasn’t right.” 

 

When the two menacing figures before her didn’t so much as make a sound she swallowed hard and continued. “It was like torture. I had no say in what she did to me, she just kept telling me that the best medicine hurt the most. Most of the time I was strapped to a leather cott with a feeding tube down my nose. They never sedated me, even when they would take skin grafts from my thighs or cut me open to take samples of whatever new organ they saw fit that day. After they tested just about everything from my body, they came up with _potential_ _cures”_ She spat in disgust. “The things they injected me with would make me writhe in pain for days and would only make me feel more ill. After a few days of one injection they would change to another, each worse than the next. Something happened though; one day my head suddenly cleared, I could breath and I had my strength back, more than I had before. I was elated, I thought I was cured and that the nightmare was finally over. Sure I didn’t look as good as I did before,” she motioned to her scars and discolored patches of skin, “But I was alive, and healthy… I thought I would be able to live out the rest of my life.”   
  
Widowmaker pushed off the wall she was leaning against and her heels clicked as she walked over to the patient. “But they didn’t let you leave did they? That’s why you killed your nurse and fled her laboratory.” Her suspicions were confirmed by a nod from the woman. She took her cold purple hand and lifted the woman’s chin to look at her. “And what did they turn you into?”  
  
“A monster…” The words fell from quivering lips, hot tears streaming down scarred and disfigured cheeks.   
  
“Then you’ll fit in well here.” The man in black spoke for the first time, “You’re not the only living experiment of Dr. Ziegler’s.” He removed his mask a moment to let the woman take in the sight of his own disfigurement before putting it back in place. “The report said you poisoned the nurse to escape, but you wouldn’t have access to such things, would you?”  
  
“Well, that’s not completely true. I didn’t poison him, I gave him my sickness. He hemorrhaged internally and died.”

“How?” Reaper pressed.

  
  
The woman hesitated a moment before opening her mouth a slight bit and a thick black swirl of smoke curled up from out of her lips. It made the other two take a step back cautiously till she closed her mouth once more. “They didn’t cure me, per say, but I am able to expel my illness like that, in a miasma. If I don’t do it regularly, it will kill me.”   
  
Reaper nodded in understanding. “And if you were able to get your hands on Angela, what would you do?”   
  
He knew her answer before she even responded; that glint in her eye, the look of murder on her face, the hurt and torture she had been through culminating in hate deep in her heart. “I would kill her slowly, make her feel the helpless pain I experienced under her knife. I would make her scream until she snaps her own vocal cords.” She stared at the black leather-clad hand presented to her.   
  
“Well then, welcome to Talon. What do we call you?”   
  
She carefully took his hand and stood up, looking at her two new cohorts, “Call me Plaguebearer.”

 


	2. What have we here?

A bath and warm food were a pleasant introduction into the Talon organization, some comfortable clothing and the freedom to roam where she pleased sweetened the deal even more, practically cementing her position in their ranks. She sat in the dining hall with a textbook and a steaming bowl of pho, brushing and braiding her hair as her eyes flowed over the words.    
  
“What are you reading there amiga?” Sombra waltzed up and sat down next to her, holding an ice tea that she was idling sipping on.   
  
“Oh, it’s a textbook on air filtration.” She looked at her new dining companion before going back to fumbling with her hair.   
  
Sombra chuckled, “For your morning breath?” she put up a hand when the other went to explain. “I’ve heard from the others, I understand. I was just wondering what to call our new team member?”   
  
“Plague-”   
  
“No no no, not your edgy code name cariño, your real name. Something I can talk to you with?” Sombra smirked as the other woman gave a blank expression.   
  
She was momentarily distracted by Sombra’s voice; it rolled like an ocean wave, both calming and something that could swallow you up if it so pleased. She almost forgot the question and fumbled over her words. “I um, my name? Um, i-it’s Abigail.”

“Abby,” She tested the name on her tongue, deciding she liked it, “Cute name, I’m Sombra. So Abby, what did you do before this recent spiral of events?” She seemed to casually lounge at the dining table, musing at how this woman wanted for murder was blushing at being called cute.   
  
“Like, what I did as a job?” a nod from Sombra encouraged her to elaborate, “Ah, I was a biomedical engineer. I worked with hospitals to create and update machinery that would help the medical staff treat patients.”   
  
“Well, look at the brains on you. Do you think you could work on a little something? Maybe kick it around a bit and see if you come up with any ideas?”    
  
“I could take a look, I can’t guarantee anything before I know what needs to be done.” Abigail felt a bit uneasy about the vague request, but she figured that sooner or later any talents she had would be put to use in the organization, they weren’t just going to let her lounge around for free.

“Of course.” Sombra set her drink down and brought up her hands, manifesting a holoscreen in between the two of them. “That  _ perra  _ we call Mercy, has a handy little tool she calls a caduceus staff. It allows her to quickly heal her overwatch teammates, making it a real pain in our necks. Our boss wants us to figure out if we can replicate something like it for our own usage, and you seem like just the brains to be able to do it.” The screen showed video of Angela in battle, using the staff to seemingly pull the others back from the brink of death.   
  
“A video doesn’t tell me much about how it works. Someone must have made it for her, if you can get me blueprints for it I’m sure I can come up with something that would help. I’m sure it won’t be easy to find though.” She knew she was asking a tall order, but technology like that wasn’t easy to create from the top of your head.   
  
Sombra chuckled, “If it exists, I can find it, cariño.” she hands Abigail a small piece of tech. “Here, an earpiece for you. I’ll let you know when I find what we’re looking for.” Once Abby took the earpiece, Somba poked her in the nose, taking her by surprise “Boop!” And with that her form faded into nothingness, the hacker gone. 

Abigail looked at the empty space Sombra had just occupied a moment ago and relaxed her shoulders. “Sombra” She whispered the name to herself and smiled as she carefully nestled the earpiece into place. She began to indulge in her food, but suddenly it was much harder to focus on her reading.


	3. Sleep, Black Sheep

Abby was up late, not able to sleep from all the excitement that day. She tinkered around with a mask she was creating, hoping she could expel her sickness without infecting anyone else at Talon headquarters. She made sure to post a biohazard sign on her bedroom door just in case before running a preliminary test on her prototype. She hit record on her computer to keep video of what needed improvement. “Air scrubbing mask, prototype alpha, test one.” She put the mask over her mouth and nose and took a deep breath in, slowly and steadily exhaling and relaxing her body to let the thick smoke billow out. It seemed to be working perfectly at first, but then the respirator began to make a gurgling noise, and it started to leak a liquid that was black as tar. Abigail closed her mouth and cut off the miasma, pulling the mask off to examine what went wrong. “Prototype alpha was a failure. Cause of the problem seems to be…” She poked around the mask and saw the filters were absolutely soaked through with the black gnarly gunk. “The quantity of the miasma was too great for the filters to bear. I am left with a leaking biohazard of a mask with what I can only presume is a concentrated liquid of what I am expelling upon exhale. This concludes test one of prototype alpha.” She hit pause on the recording and tossed the mask in the trash, making sure to tie up the bag tightly.   
  
“Testing not going so well amiga?” A familiar voice rang in Abby’s ear, making her jump. 

 

She looked around, but then remembered the earpiece. “Oh, can you hear me? I’m sorry, I must have been distracting.”   
  
“Si, I can hear you just fine. Don’t worry I haven’t been listening very long, I was just about to tell you something but then I heard you talking about some prototype, so I let you finish what you were doing.” A screen popped up on her computer, a purple background with a white skull in the center. “Since it’s probably not safe I step into your quarters at the moment, I’ll just show you from the comfort of my own room.”   
  
Abby sat up attentively and watched as Sombra opened a file on her screen. She scrolled through a few pages of text before stopping at a blueprint of the caduceus staff. “Is this what you wanted?” She sounded smug.   
  
Abigail grabbed the sides of her computer and gasped, “Yes! How in the shit did you find this?!”   
  
Sombra just laughed on the other end, “I told you: If it exists, I can find it, cariño.”   
  
“You are a god among men, Sombra.” She scrolled back up to start scanning the text for clues.   
  
“Hm~ I know. But, as a god, it would be negligent of me to have you stay up all night working on this. You need your rest as much as any of us.” The file closed and she unlinked herself from the computer.    
  
“Ah, but Sombra! I need to start working on this right away!” She clicked around her computer, but couldn’t bring up the file on her own. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway just thinking about all the work that needs to be done.”   
  
“Abby, listen to me.” Her voice was like velvet and it made the frantic woman stop in her tracks. “Turn off your computer and get up from your desk.”   
  
Somehow she was doing as she was told, clicking on the shutdown button and closing her laptop, scooting her chair away from her desk and getting up, “Um… ok, now what?”   
  
“Go get into your pajamas.” The commands were resolute, but not harsh.    
  
Abby rubbed the back of her neck. She was already stripped down, not wanting to have made a mess out of the few clothes she had while she was testing, especially since she wasn’t sure how to properly clean the miasma yet. “Um, I’m already in my sleep wear.” She chuckled nervously.   
  
“I see, then I want you to turn off your lights and go lay down in bed.”   
  
Abby smiled and rolled her eyes, walking over and switching off the lights. “This feels like a hostage situation.”

“I can stop if you want me to, just say the word.” She could almost hear the smirk in Sombra’s voice   
  
Abigail sighed and laid down on her bed, staring up into the darkness of the night. “Alright, I’m laying down in bed.”   
  
“Now, the best thing to help you fall asleep would be a lullaby.” Sombra said sweetly. In the darkness of the room, Abby could almost imagine Sombra sitting beside her.

It was silent a moment and Abigail could feel her heartbeat quicken at the thought that Sombra might start singing for her. She held her breath, but when  _ ‘ _ [ _ Despacito _ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJQP7kiw5Fk) _ ’  _ started broadcasting through her earpiece she couldn’t help but bust out laughing. “Sombra! How old even is this song?!”   
  
Sombra laughed with her, “Almost 60 years old, and it’s still a banger. Don’t act like you don’t love it.”   
  
Abigail allowed herself to relax in the bed, listening to the song in a language she didn’t understand until she happened to doze off. Sombra quieted the music and when she heard no response she smiled and sat back in her chair, 

 

“Buenas noches Abby…” She disconnected from the earpiece and let the new recruit sleep in peace.

 


	4. Dangerous Distractions

“What information have you found?” Reaper stood off to Sombra’s side, looking over her shoulder at the computer screen.

“Loads of information, but not surprisingly she's exactly who she says she is. Abigail O. Vogel, 29 years old, graduate of Hatham University with a major in biomedical engineering and a minor in physiology. All her social media is painfully bare, and looking at her health records she was relatively healthy till this curious disease which they believe to be a type of autoimmune disease. What I find particularly funny is that shortly after she was admitted to Dr. Ziegler’s lab, she was pronounced dead.”   
  
Reaper was not as impressed, “And why do you find this so amusing?”   
  
“Because not only does it prove that Angela was never going to let Abby go, but that when Abby did escape, her face was plastered all over the news. Sure, she may be a bit disfigured, but a close family member would be able to pick her out no doubt. If Overwatch’s ass wasn’t on fire before from the public, it will be if that ever comes to light.”    
  
“Let the dominoes fall as they may, if we intervene it could backfire on us. For now we have more important things to worry about. Wake her up and get her working on engineering caduceus alternatives; Doomfist is yet to be convinced she’s worth our recourses.”   
  
Sombra rolled her eyes, “Aye Aye captain Gabe. Just know that if she needs anything, I’m giving you and widowmaker the shopping list.”   
  
A disgruntled sigh was the only response as the man exited the room in wraith form. 

 

Sombra spun in a half circle and looked at her door, pulling her feet up onto the edge of her chair. She picked up her earpiece and rolled it in between her fingers a moment before placing it in her ear and turning it on. She took a deep breath and relaxed into a gentle smile, putting on a chipper voice, “ Buenos días Abby, did you sleep well?”   
  
The other end of the line sounded in a small gasp and some sniffling, “O-oh, good morning Sombra.” Her voice was scratchy and the sniffling continued, though trying to be muffled.   
  
“Abby, were you crying?” She didn’t want to embarrass the woman, but she was concerned that something was wrong.   
  
“I, um, it’s fine. It’s nothing. Just a nightmare.” She cleared her throat and tried to pull herself together, the sound of the rolling wheels on her computer chair echoed through the earpiece. “So. The blueprints. Wanna bring those up for me so I can start working?”

 

Sombra worried her lip but decided to let the nightmare business go, not pressing it further than she was welcome. She flicked her wrist up, bringing her holoscreen up and touching the file with the blueprints, letting it open on Abigail’s screen. “Just let me know what you all need for your project and I can have reaper fetch it for you.”    
  
“Actually, I had an idea of how to sanitize the miasma if you wouldn’t mind adding a few things to the list. It’s not like I can work on this one thing non stop and just let everyone get sick and die on my account.”   
  
“Si, that would not be pleasant. Please do not get me sick with that.” Sombra chuckled.    
  
Abigail scrolled through the blueprints and records, “You are the last person I would want to get sick.”   
  
Sombra’s eyebrows hiked at that, “Oh yeah? How come?” Her voice dipped a bit lower, just imaging how that sent a shiver down Abby’s spine.   
  
As if on cue the engineer sputtered and her voice was lost in her throat, “W-well you’re my friend!” Her voice almost cracked, and Sombra could just imagine the blush on her cheeks.   
  
“Oh, is that it? Alright then  _ friend _ I’ll let you get to work.” She turned off the earpiece and snickered evilly to herself, tossing the tech up in the air a few times as she just imagined how it made Abby squirm. She flicked her holoscreen back down and almost threw herself backwards out of her chair as she saw widowmaker in her doorway. 

“Flirting with the new recruit?” She did not seem amused at the interaction she just witnessed.   
  
“Just like a real spider, you’re not appreciated in my room niña.” Sombra adjusted in her chair. “It was a little something to keep our prisioner happy as she works. Since you’re heartless and dreadful, they didn’t have  _ you _ do it. If you make a prisoner think they are staying of their own volition, they will not see themselves as a prisoner, and thus not try to escape.” She smiled and shrugged, like she was explaining a basic concept.   
  
“You seem to be doing more distracting and less encouraging. Just remember, Doomfist is not a patient man. If you have plans to date this new recruit, Talon will dispose of you.”    
  
As the sniper left the room, Sombra stuck her tongue out before spinning back around to her computer, bringing up a window where she could watch Abby work. It was true that she was supposed to examine the woman’s work and make sure she stayed on task, but she couldn’t help flirting with her a bit; the way her blush filled her whole face was amusing, and the way the light hit the scar on her cheek was… oh no. Sombra pushed herself back from her desk and brought her hand up to her face. Did she actually have a crush on Abby? No, that was preposterous, it was stupid to even cross her mind. She quickly closed the video feed and got up from her desk to get some coffee.

 


	5. The Feeling's Mutual

Sombra stood and stared at the biohazard sign on Abby’s door, two cups of coffee in hand. If she had a free hand she would rub her face, “Sombra, why are you here? You know better than to catch feelings for people, that gets people killed.” She hissed quietly to herself. There was something radiant about  _ her _ , a diamond that just needed to be polished, or a government firewall that just needed to be slipped past. But, they hadn’t know each other for very long, maybe Sombra was just lonely and projecting feelings onto this person just because they were marginally kind in return. She shifted in the place she stood, half of her wanting to walk in and the other half wanting to turn and go. She was conflicted, and so she just stood there, a lump in her throat, looking for an answer.   
  
Abby, on the other hand, was blissfully unaware of Sombra standing just on the other side of her door; she fiddled with her computer program as her brain churned at different ideas. She was in the groove, bursting with ideas on things she could do, and as she worked she bumped up her music to sway along to. She couldn’t sing along to the words, but it was quickly becoming one of her favorite songs to hum along to.   
  
Sombra blinked and leaned forward, pressing her ear to the door and listened a moment while a muffled  _ ‘Despacito’  _ played through Abby’s computer. She closed her eyes and chuckled to herself, thinking that her heart, full of whimsy, might just float away. She put her forehead against the door, just smiling like an idiot to herself before standing up straight and talking loud enough she could be heard through the door and over the music. “You know, I could teach you the words to that song.”   
  
All sound came to a sudden halt behind the door before it opened and Abigail peeked out. “Are you spying on me?” She sassed playfully but stepped aside to let the hacker in.   
  
“That’s what I do cariño~” She handed Abby a cup of coffee and popped a squat on her bed, crossing her legs under her, holding her coffee in both hands to feel the radiating warmth. “How’s your project coming along?”   
  
Abigail took a sip of her coffee and set it on her desk, flopping in her chair, “Amazing! They have every detail listed in these blueprints. They synthesised a generator that could create synthetic UVA radiation that still penetrated the skin down to the dermis, but that passed by the cells harmlessly so that they didn’t cause cancer or increase skin damage. This, paired with an extremely high frequency sound activates a nanochip in the patient’s body that gives orders to nanobots that are in the blood stream. The nanochip can actually reprogram cells in the body to almost instantly heal a wound that would normally be fatal. Even if there is no blood flow to the injured area, the nanochip can switch a cell’s function with tissue nanotransfection to create vascular cells that deliver blood and nanobots to the area. It really is spectacular.”   
  
“Sooo what does that mean for us?” Sombra sipped on her coffee, not really understanding this science mumbo-jumbo.

“Well, given that I have all the information here, I could just recreate it… or I could do one better and revamp it. I could perhaps make a device that each of you could carry on your person so that you don’t need to rely on a medic to deliver healing to you.” She seemed giddy to out-do herself.   
  
“As long as I get healing, I don’t care where it comes from.” Sombra chuckled, “Looks like you have everything under control.”   
  
“I was just about to finish up the list of equipment and supplies I need. After that… Would you like to grab brunch?” Abby gave a little shrug and smiled crookedly.   
  
A gentle little smirk creeped onto the hacker’s face behind her coffee cup. “What exactly did you have in mind?”   
  
“I was going to suggest coffee, but you’re a step ahead of me. But there is a little gelato shop I’ve been meaning to go to.” Abby threw out the suggestion to see if it stuck.   
  
“Gelato for brunch? You do live dangerously.” Sombra laughed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her translocator. “Take this. Send me the list of items you need and head to the gelato shop. I’ll tag right behind you.”   
  
“Oh, alright.” She tucked the device in her back pocket and sent the file to Sombra as the smitten hacker made her way to her superiors.   
  
*-*-*-*-*-*   
  
“Think you can manage that Gabe? See, she was even nice enough to include pictures. Let me know if you need any help and I might be able to locate some things for you.” Sombra scrolled through the list of items.   
  
“You’re sure she can do this?” He minimized the holoscreen and shoved the tech inside his coat.   
  
“She certainly seems like she knows what she’s talking about; she was explaining to me how it all works and it went right over my head. Put some faith in her, alright?” She patted him on the shoulder. “Have fun with your treasure hunt.” Sombra tried to make it inconspicuous that she was hurrying around the corner to translocate. She caught Abby as she was just about to put it on the ground and materialized right in her hands. Abigail tried to catch her but both of them just ended toppling over right in front of the store door.    
  
“You really know how to make an entrance.” Abby sat up on her knees, wiping her hands off on her pants.   
  
“Gotta keep you on your toes, or your knees.” She meant to make a joke, but it came out wrong. Now it was Sombra’s turn to flush to her ears as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Not… I didn’t mean it like that.”   
  
Abby just laughed off the slip of the tongue and stood up, offering Sombra a hand. “It’s good to know you’re not ridiculously smooth all the time; it was starting to get a little intimidating how suave you were.”    
  
Sombra slipped her hand into Abby’s and was surprised by the quite solid nature of her grip in contrast to her body type. Abigail had no sharp corners, a little fluff around the middle, and certainly no hulking muscles, and yet Sombra was pulled to her feet like she was light as a feather. Abby wasn’t kidding when she had said the experiments made her stronger.    
  
They walked into the shop and peered at the multitude of decadent flavors laid out before them, co-conspiring about what flavors sounded the best. Abby chose a strawberry kiwi, and Sombra went with mango with coconut flakes on top. They took their treats down to the waterfront just a few blocks away and ate happily as they watched the rippling water.    
  
“This isn’t half bad,” Sombra smiled twirling her spoon in her chilled treat. “Though i’m thinking I may not have gotten the best flavor.”   
  
Abby looked over and pulled her spoon from her mouth, “Do you not like it? We can get you another.”   
  
“Well, now that I see yours it just looks so much better.” She was practically batting her eyelashes.   
  
“Well you can have some of mine if you want.” Abby smiled and scooped her out some and went to hand her the spoon but blushed a bit when Sombra opened her mouth. She let out a huff of a laugh and put the spoon in Sombra’s mouth, pulling it out slowly, watching the hacker’s lips wrapped around the colorful plastic.   
  
Sombra put a finger to her cheek, analyzing the flavor profile of the strawberry kiwi as she swirled it around her tongue, humming in thought like the sound of a computer’s cooling fans. Abby watched her, amused at the show, and ate a bite herself as Sombra thought. Sombra swallowed her bite and sighed, “Cariño, I just don’t think I can make a judgement yet, I think I need another taste.”    
  
Abby chuckled and looked down to scoop another bite out for her, but stopped when Sombra placed a hand on her forearm. Abby looked up and Sombra leaned in, pressing her lips against the engineer’s, thankful that once the shock wore off Abby kissed back. It was soft and tender, the only sound around was the lapping of the water on the rocks. They parted slowly, Sombra then putting on her thinking face again, “Yes, I do think I like that flavor better.”   
  
Abigail swallowed the gelato in her mouth and smiled, even going so far as to casually lick her lips. “I think you’re mistaken, yours tasted much better to me.”   
  
Sombra was about to make a comment about how she couldn’t be so sure with just one taste, but her earpiece came to life with an eerie disembodied voice on the other line. “Sombra.” It was Reaper, most likely running into security trouble obtaining parts.   
  
Sombra rolled her eyes and sat back, clicking her earpiece on. “I’m here.” She had her holoscreen drawn up and locating his position.   
  
“Retina scanners, take care of it.” It wasn’t barked, but it was definitely a command. Normally she would tease him just to make him even more mad, but she just wanted this done and over with.   
  
Sombra just sighed as she hacked into their security systems. “Honestly, that system is so bad you could have just punched it and it would have let you in.” She went ahead and looped the video footage while she was at it before closing her screen, “There, you should be good to go.” She clicked the earpiece off and turned to an awestruck Abby.

 

“That was so cool~” She looked like a giddy child.   
  
“Pff, that? That was nothing,” She couldn’t help but smile though. “Could have done that in my sleep.”   
  
“And you think I’m the only smart one around here.” Abby cooed and placed a peck on the hacker’s cheek, the two of them giggling a bit.   
  
“Keep singing my praises and my head’s going to be too big to fit through the door.”

 

*-*-*-*-*-*

  
Back at the base, Abigail made her way to Sombra’s room with the translocator, just being careful they weren’t seen together too often. She slid the tech into the room as she passed before heading back to her room to get to work.   
  
Sombra materialized in her room and flopped on her bed, grinning from ear to ear, her stomach fluttering with smitten affection. “I know I shouldn’t fall in love, but... this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve broken the rules.” She chuckled, wrapping her arms around herself like she was going to burst at the seams if she didn’t hold in her feelings. She could get used to feeling loved.


	6. Our True Colors

“Where did you get these?” Sombra had snuck up behind Widowmaker and pulled a pirouette out of the box that the sniper was indulging in. She held up the flakey tube-like cookie and examined it before taking a bite.

“Plaguebearer gave them to me when I delivered her equipment.” She lifted the barrel of her disassembled widow’s kiss as she cleaned the gun. “She said it was to thank me for a job well done. She is quite odd, but... they are tasty.”   
  
Sombra had to take a minute to remember who that was, considering she never used that name for Abby. “Oh, hm, that’s cute.” When widow paused and looked back at her for her choice of words, Sombra shrugged, “You know, because you were a ballerina. It’s like a pun.” She lied out of her teeth.   
  
“I suppose.” That seemed to satisfy the purple woman and she went back to focusing on the task at hand. “Where do you think she got such a thing? Such a confection is not usually found around this area, hm?”   
  
Sombra shrugged, “I’m sure there are some places around here that have them. Not my biggest concern where she’s buying cookies from.”   
  
Widowmaker chuckled lightly as she assembled her gun, nicely cleaned and maintained. “You don’t think it was from a gelato shop? Perhaps one you’re familiar with?” She snapped the magazine into the gun and turned around to face the stunned-silent Sombra. “I warned you once Sombra, if you are entangling yourself with this woman, Talon will not stand for it.”   
  
Sombra gritted her teeth, her brain working on a viable excuse. “Talon can not contain her in this building, if they try, she will flee; it is what she hated most about Angela’s lab. But am I supposed to just let her run off alone with no training? It’s better that I go with her in case we run into overwatch agents looking to take back what we won from them.”   
  
“Feed me any excuse you choose, but no one can hide from my sight.” She stood with her weapon in hand, taking her leave.   
  
Sombra flopped down in an empty chair, kneading her temples with her fingers, “What the hell do I do?…” She felt like she was going to work herself to tears.   
  
Sombra’s earpiece came to life with a chipper voice on the other end. “Hey Sombra! I have a prototype i’m going to show Reaper, do you wanna come down and watch?”   
  
Sombra took a deep breath and clicked her com on, trying to keep her voice steady, “Yeah, I’ll be down in a little bit.”   
  
*-*-*-*-*-*   
  
Sombra walked into the training room and tensed a bit as both reaper and widowmaker were gathered to see this prototype testing. She tried to act natural, but their eyes felt like bricks tied to her ankles, and at any moment they would push her overboard.   
  
Abigail redirected their attention to her device. “I worked on it all night, but I think I have something really special here, but I won’t know until I test it.”   
  
Reaper nodded, “Alright, show us what it can do.”   
  
“Certainly.” And without further adieu, Abby whipped around and socked widow in the face. The hit sent the sniper reeling, and she fell back on her ass, deep red blood starting to drip from her broken nose. She covered her face, obviously in pain with her eyes squeezed shut.   
  
The punch made Sombra and Reaper look at each other, neither of them expecting the hit either, but they didn’t say anything, instead turning back to watch.   
  
Abby knelt down, “Oh take your hands from your face, I could have done much worse to you.” She took her prototype and clipped it onto the neckline of widow’s outfit, the piece glowing a bright white. When Widow finally dropped her hands, her nose was fine and stopped bleeding, the tech having healed it just like the caduceus staff. 

 

“Impressive,” Reaper commented. “When will it be ready for field use?”   
  
“I’ll have to do a little more testing, but no more than a few days.” Abigail stood up and smiled.   
  
“I must say, we underestimated you. Keep us updated on the progress.” He was just about to leave but Abby spoke up.   
  
“I really can’t take all the credit, if it weren’t for Sombra finding the blueprints I don’t know if I would ever have been able to make this. She has been an immense help with my research and work.”    
  
Reaper turned to her and hummed in thought, “Well then, good work Sombra. I trust you’ll continue to enhance her work?”   
  
Sombra blinked dumbly, not sure what exactly was going on, “Of course, whatever I can do to help.”   
  
“Perhaps she’s a good influence on you, you’ve been much more compliant since Plaguebearer joined us.” He took his leave to go inform the rest of Talon on how their engineer was fairing.   
  
Sombra turned around to ask Abby what that was all about, but she saw the engineer walk over and pick Widow up by the throat, using her free hand to tear the prototype off her, and walked the sniper to press her up against a wall.   
  
“If you ever threaten Sombra again, or do anything that would put her life in danger, I’ll do much worse than break your nose. Tell Talon about us and I will inflict a slow and painful death upon you.” She smacked Widow across the face to make sure the sniper was paying attention and not just trying to wriggle free. “I can be friendly to you if you behave and mind your own business, but cross me and I will make it clear to you that even spiders can be prey. Do I make myself clear?” Abigail growled the last part, squeezing harder.   
  
Widowmaker opened one eye to look at the two of them and nodded slowly, taking a deep breath when she was released. “Talon has their ways of finding out, even without my help.”   
  
“I’ll take my chances.” Abigail turned and walked away, scooping up Sombra’s hand in her own as she left, leading her along.   
  
Sombra waited a few moments before busting out in giggles, “Are you sure that was a good idea, cariño?”    
  
Abby smiled at her fit of giggles, “No one threatens you and gets away with it. Not on my watch, especially not the purple bitch.”   
  
“I can’t tell if you’re a genius, or the dumbest woman alive. How did you even know she threatened me?”    
  
“Your mic was stuck on, I heard every word through your earpiece. I was going to catch a nap after finishing the prototype, but that woke me right up and I needed to punch her.” Abby shrugged. “Let me tell ya, she won’t be able to see shit if I gouge her eye-” Abby was cut off as Sombra wrapped her arms around Abby’s neck and pulled her into a kiss. Abigail slipped her arms around Sombra’s waist, pulling the hacker close, deepening the kiss and reveling in their little victory.

 

Even after parting from the kiss, they held each other close, eyes closed and just basking in each other’s presence. “You need to get some sleep, you’ve been up over 30 hours.”   
  
“Huh, has it really been that long? That would explain why my eyes are so dry.” She yawned.   
  
“Maybe I should come with you, watch over our astute engineer and make sure she’s properly taken care of.” Sombra teased, looking up at Abby.   
  
“Is that a good idea? I wouldn’t want you getting in trouble.”   
  
“Says the person who just punched and choked out the most lethal sniper in the world.” Sombra laughed before yawning in response to Abby’s yawn.

 

“I suppose you have a point there. Maybe just have your translocator ready in your room if you need it.” She stroked Sombra’s hair idly, looking her over with eyes half lidded in both adoration and exhaustion.   
  
“I always have an escape plan.” She gave Abby a quick peck. “Let’s get you to bed.”

 

*-*-*-*-*-*

 

The room was still and almost completely silent, save for the hum of cool air blowing through the register and the slow steady breathing of the sleeping engineer. Sombra was still awake, lying on her side, cuddled right up next to Abigail with her head in the sweet spot between Abby’s shoulder and chest. She could hear Abby’s heartbeat, felt the tender embrace of the woman’s arm that ran along her back and the hand resting on her hip, keeping her close and safe.    
  
This felt right, and Sombra felt ashamed she ever denied these feelings in the first place. Abigail didn’t want to just use her, to lie to her and manipulate her like Talon did, she simply wanted Sombra’s affections. In Abby’s eyes, she was intelligent, cunning, beautiful, and suave, and her heart genuinely ached for such attention. Sombra looked up at her sweetheart’s face, lax in its unconscious state, radiant in it’s own way. She smiled and whispered to her, “Tú eres el imán y yo soy el metal.” tucking a lock of hair securely behind her ear. Abby shifted a bit in response as she slept, tugging Sombra closer and resting her cheek atop of the hacker’s head. Sombra just smiled and relaxed in her comforting hold, wishing she could slumber away without a care in the world, but she needed to be alert in case anyone tried to enter. But for now, there’s nothing else in the world Sombra would have traded this moment for.


End file.
